Indeed, Pryor will probably get a speedy ruling -- Roger Goodell and the league can't be thrilled about Pryor deciding to reverse course and appeal, even though it appeared he wouldn't when the NFL finally let him into the supplemental draft.

If he doesn't, then the floodgates are wide open for suspending NCAA athletes who turn pro with suspensions and other punishments hanging over their heads.

That Pryor will ultimately end up serving the five-game suspension -- and he will -- isn't a great precedent for the NFLPA. But looking the other way while the league suspends Pryor and not contesting the decision would be a disastrous precedent to establish.

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As you'll recall, the NFLPA hasn't been exactly thrilled at the news of Pryor's suspension, because it represents a dangerous precedent in terms of future control for the NFL over players leaving college early.

Which precisely why there shouldn't have ever been a question about Pryor appealing. This isn't exactly the sort of situation where the players want to just lay down and let the league have its way, setting a precedent for suspending players for actions that were committed while they weren't even in the league.

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So it's no surprise that plenty of players and agents and lawyers aren't thrilled about the news. Go ahead and count Steelers backup quarterback and NFLPA executive committee member Charlie Batch among the group that's not thrilled about Roger Goodell's decision to suspend Pryor.

"He took it to another level when he said he was going to suspend Terrelle Pryor for five games and he wasn't even in the NFL last year," said Batch, via Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "How can you do that? It's not right. It's not right at all."

It probably isn't "right," in that it's seems random and a touch unfair, but that doesn't really matter.

The NFL had a situation where college athletes were primed to begin utilizing the supplemental draft as a way to escape NCAA punishment, thereby making the NFL look like a safe harbor for wrongdoing at the amateur level.

Though it is convenient that the NCAA serves as a cost-free minor league of sorts for the NFL, that convenience dies out quickly if and when players know that they can laugh off the rules imposed by college athletics and skate to the pros without any punishment.

Hence the suspension for Pryor and what will be an interesting precedent. One that, clearly, won't be well-liked by the players.

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It feels like we've written about Terrelle Pryor a million times since he decided to bolt Ohio State and head to the NFL. (The actual answer is 62. So there's that.)

Perhaps that's because of his up-and-down status for the NFL's supplemental draft. Or perhaps that's because he's such a talented player who presents tons of upside but remains an enigma, particularly with respect to what position he'll play as a professional.

Tafoya also reported that Pryor would be available for the Raiders final preseason game against the Seahawks.

This makes a lot of sense, actually, because you don't see starters get a ton of time during the final exhibition affair, and Pryor will be missing the first five games of the regular season; getting him out there and giving him some run under center won't put anything at risk and it'll at least the Raiders see what Pryor can do in live NFL action.

And since this is the Raiders we're talking about, it wouldn't be shocking to see them give Pryor plenty of run as a quarterback if he looks even remotely competent during the final week of the preseason.

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Per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, the contract includes a $586,000 signing bonus and base salaries of $375,000, $485,000, $595,000 and $645,000 in each of the respective years. The 2011 number does not include the amount (more than $100,000) that Pryor will lose because of the five-game suspension he has to serve to start the year.

Pryor will be eligible to begin practicing with the team Friday, pending his signature on Thursday of course, and could conceivably play with the team in its final preseason on September 2 against the Seahawks.

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